Canadian downhill national champions crowned at Kicking Horse

Sunday capped off a big week of Dunbar Summer Series racing with the grand finale: 2022 Canadian downhill national championships. The event returned to the rocky shelves and steep woods of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and the classic venue once again delivered hard-fought racing and deserving champions.

Over 350 registered to start on Sunday. That meant excellent competition and big crowds for the final finishers of the day.

Elite Women

Bailey Goldstone (Specialized Canada) earns her first elite title. The Squamish racer carried the Canada Cup leader’s jersey into Kicking Horse and used that consistent speed to take the win on Sunday by just over two seconds.  Lucy Schick (Norco) earns second. Rachel Pageau, battling with a knee injury from her last block of World Cup racing, places third. Tori Wood (Corsa) and Nelson, B.C.’s Chandrima Lavoie round out the podium in fourth and fifth.

Elite men

There isn’t a rider on the start list that the Dunbar Summer Series crowd wouldn’t have been stoked to see win. But the crowd really wanted to see Gabe Neron take the title. After two second-places this week, the Dunbar racer stormed to a huge win – and his first elite national championships title – on Sunday at Kicking Horse. When Neron manualed across the finish line, the crowd went wild. Our photographer on course said he could hear the cheers halfway up the mountain.

Lucas Cruz (Norco Factory Team) takes second, even with a crash in his run. Jack Pelland (Dunbar) squeezes into third just ahead of Henry Fitzgerald (Norco Factory Team). We Are One’s EWS racer Emmett Hancock made a return to his downhill roots to land the final podium position in fifth.

Junior women’s podium. Photo: Niall Pinder

under-17 men’s podium. Photo: Niall Pinder

Junior and U17

Battles were tight in each of the junior and u17 categories, but there was a common theme between them. The top riders in each category posted times that would have been podium-fast in the elite races. Comparing times between categories always comes with the caveat that different time of day and course conditions can impact speed but one thing is certain: Canada’s youth are really fast.

Junior women

Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Factory Team) earns the junior women’s national title….